Cowbell’s got a brand new bag

Cowbell’s got a brand new bag for 2013, chickens.

Over the past little while, I’ve been mulling over the fact that I’ve been seeing a lot of amazing artists – in music, theatre and poetry/spoken word mostly, as well as books, TV and film – and having a blast seeing/hearing their work and blogging about it. I’ve also been enjoying the heck out of scenic painting – assisting a set designer in bringing into being his/her vision for the world of the play. But making very little art of my own. For a long while, I saw blogging about – and, by extension, shouting out and supporting local artists – as my art. And it is – don’t get me wrong. But I was also feeling an untapped source of creativity within myself, put on hold for a variety of reasons, that needs to be allowed to flow as well.

It’s been just over two years since I started this blog. Fairly early on, I realized that my main focus needed to be local Toronto music, theatre and poetry/spoken word. I’ll still post about movies, TV and books once in a while, but there are other blogs that do this (The Televixen, The Mind Reels and Dorothy Surrenders are just a few that come to mind) – and do a much better job than I. Recently, I’ve decided to change things up a bit and include more photos and start doing interviews (like this one I did with actor/playwright Dawna J. Wightman) and participated in The Next Big Thing online interview. And I’d like to do more photo posts and interviews in the coming year.

Now, I want to strike a balance between shouting out other pe0ple’s art and creating my own. This means I’ll need to carve out some time for myself, which inevitably means I won’t be seeing and posting on other artists quite as much. I’ve already taken some steps in that direction and promise to keep you posted. So don’t be surprised if, in the near future, you see a post about some of my own work. Of course, all this on top of the full-time office job that pays the rent, and keeps Camille and I fed. I also want to give myself permission to see a performance and not blog about it the next day. Take the night off, so to speak, once in a while. I’ve found that with all my note-taking, picture-taking and just generally watching a performance with an eye on posting about it, I end up missing out on part of the experience. Sometimes, I just want to let the work wash over me and experience it in the moment without having to think about a headline or a write-up. No worries, I’ll still be getting out to see stuff and telling you all about it in this blog – I’ll just be giving myself some space now too.

I’d like to leave you with this fun and touching video of a male chorus, recorded in an Oakville, ON Tim Horton’s by employee Danfi Parker. It brought a smile to my face and a bit of a tear. If anyone knows who these fellas are, please give me a shout.